By Portia Crowe and David Lewis
(Reuters) -The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions against an armed group aligned with Congo's military as well as a Congolese mining company and two Hong Kong-based exporters over armed violence and the sale of critical minerals.
The measures are the latest taken by the administration of President Donald Trump to try to bring peace to eastern Congo, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels staged a lightning advance earlier this year, spurring violence that has killed
thousands of people.
The Treasury Department said it was putting sanctions on the Coalition des Patriotes Resistants Congolais-Forces de Frappe (PARECO-FF), a militia that it said controlled mining sites in the mineral-rich region of Rubaya from 2022 to 2024.
Rubaya, now controlled by M23, produces 15% of the world's coltan, which is processed into a heat-resistant metal called tantalum that is in high demand from makers of mobile phones, computers and other applications in the electronics, aerospace and medical industries.
The new sanctions, which restrict trade with U.S. companies and persons, also target the Congolese mining company Cooperative des Artisanaux Miniers du Congo (CDMC), which the Treasury Department said sold critical minerals smuggled from PARECO-FF areas of control, and the Hong Kong-based export companies East Rise Corporation Limited and Star Dragon Corporation Limited, which it said bought those minerals.
A senior U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington was seeking to raise the cost of illicit trade "to make the licit trade that much more appealing."
The Trump administration hopes an eventual peace deal will attract billions in Western investments to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals.
A report by a U.N. group of experts published last month said Congo's army had received support from PARECO-FF in late 2024 and early 2025.
A Congolese government spokesperson and East Rise did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. Star Dragon, CDMC and PARECO-FF could not be reached for comment.
PEACE TALKS
Jason Stearns, a Congo expert, said he was surprised that PARECO-FF, not M23, had been targeted in the new mining-related sanctions but said the move might be aimed at not derailing talks going on in Doha.
Qatar is hosting direct talks between Congo and M23, while Washington is hosting talks between Congo and Rwanda.
Congo, the United Nations and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms.
Rwanda has long denied helping M23 and says its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The senior U.S. official acknowledged M23 was involved in the illicit trade of minerals and noted that M23 has already had sanctions placed on it by the U.S. and the United Nations.
A U.S. sanctions announcement in January 2013 said M23 was "committing serious violations of international law involving the targeting of children in situations of armed conflict in the DRC, including killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, and forced displacement."
It made no mention of minerals smuggling.
Last year, the Treasury Department put sanctions on the broader Alliance Fleuve Congo rebel coalition, of which M23 is a central member. It has also sanctioned members of the M23 leadership.
The senior U.S. official said the Trump administration's diplomacy was "progressing" and that sanctions were a way of targeting "spoilers" seeking to profit off the illicit mineral trade.
It wanted all parties to realize there would be a brighter economic future if U.S. companies had confidence that they could invest in a "stable and peaceful" eastern Congo, the official said.
(Additional reporting by Ange Adihe KasongoWriting by Portia CroweEditing by Robbie Corey-Boulet, Chizu Nomiyama and Rosalba O'Brien)
